Wonderwall

Romanian artist takes his art on the street

BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — Romanian artist Vasile Muresan, known as Murivale, thinks art belongs on the street. The white-bearded painter can often be seen sitting on the colorful canvases that he displays in the street, while he is followed by the street dogs who are his companions and also inspire his work.

The 56-year-old from Bistrita — the Transylvanian town associated with the legend of Count Dracula — has been painting with passion since he was a teen, producing vivid works of Monaco, the streets of Paris, the hurly burly of the Romanian capital and huge, colorful, more abstract canvases.

His five dogs even sleep on his vibrant canvases laid out in the streets in a rundown area of the Romanian capital. He also posts some on walls for passers-by to see.

Murivale sees the notion of a real dog lying on a painted dog as summing up what he is trying to say — life and art as one.